Learning Tour to Côte d'Ivoire

We just returned from a trip to Cote d'Ivoire with CARE and Ministers of Parliament in France. Several times a year, CARE hosts high-level delegations in the countries where they work so they can experience firsthand the impact of investments on the ground. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, each trip takes the delegation off the beaten path to talk with community members, visit local clinics and hospitals, meet with partner organizations and engage with high-level government officials. We tag along and take photographs to help share their experience.

The Challenge: How do you show personal moments in large crowds of people? We focus on capturing the wider scene and then focus in on the individuals to find intimate moments.

Background: French involvement in Africa goes back centuries. Most African countries, once territories of European countries, continue to have close ties with their colonial powers including support for sustainable development projects. The French manage these funds through Agence française de développement (AFD), similar to the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID). They work to fight poverty and promote sustainable development in many of France's former protectorates including Cote d'Ivoire. In 2014, AFD earmarked EUR 8.1bn to finance projects in developing countries and for the French overseas territories. That's less than .7% of GDP—a slightly lower percentage than the United States gives to international development.